Twisted Dreams & Broken Things
by SapphireOceans
Summary: Keren has never understood why her mother hates the sea, so when she and her brother are sent to stay with their grandparents in Cornwall, it seems like a great opportunity to finally enjoy all that the ocean has to offer. But when they meet a mysterious boy on the beach, they discover that their mum has her fair share of secrets; and some of them are coming back to haunt her...


**I know, I know I have exams and about a gazillion other fics to be focusing on, but the plot bunnies won't leave me alone, okay?! So think of this chapter as a pilot episode, if you like, so see what people think of this fic. If you like it, please tell me! I will then consider continuing it, although I will be prioritising 'Never Go Back' and 'Dangerous Waters', as well as fics in other categories, especially the long neglected 'I Am Number Five', the rewriting of and sequel to 'Forests of the Fey' and the continuation of 'The Darkness Inside'. (If you're a fan of the Lorien Legacies, or the Companions Quartet, feel free to check them out ;))**

**So here we go, chucks away and all that. This is separate from any of my previous Ingo fics, although it was inspired by a 'what if' that I had when writing one of them. Not going to tell you which one though because spoilers ;)**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**The cover photo is by the amazingly talented Elena Kalis. The text was added on polyvore.**

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**_Chapter One_**

"Are you sure you've got everything?" I ask my brother as he swings his rucksack up over his shoulder. "All your clothes? Socks? Pants? All of your chargers?"

"Stop fussing Kerry!" He grumbles, not even glancing at me, too enthralled by his Nintendo. "You've checked all ready."

I roll my eyes. "I know, but we have to be sure-"

"Shut up." He mutters, still jabbing at buttons with his fingers. "I've almost got all of the stars!"

"What can't you just put it away until we're on the train?" I snap, frowning at him. "You'll run the battery down and besides, you might lose it!"

"I won't! I'm not useless, Kerry! Just leave me alone!" He growls, still refusing to look up at my face and break his concentration.

"But Matt-"

"Are you two fighting _again_?" My mother has returned, bearing two train tickets, seat reservations and a bag of food. "Can't you both please just try to get along?"

"She started it!" Matt protests childishly, before swearing as he loses the game.

"Matt! Don't you use that kind of language with me!" Mum snaps in an irritated voice. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Sorry. I don't mean to be short tempered. I'm just a bit on edge. Are you sure you'll be all right going on your own?"

"Mum, trust us. I'll be seventeen soon, and I know my way around London." I say in a reassuring voice. "We'll be fine. And you know I'll look after Matty."

"I can look after myself!" My brother protests, thumbs still flying away as he begins directing Mario through Level 5 again. I roll my eyes. My brother may be fourteen, but he still acts like a sulky five year old.

"If you're sure…" Mum still seems anxious. "You'll both be good for Nana and Grandpa, won't you?"

"Yes Mum." We say in unison, rolling our eyes.

"I want you'll to polite, and eat what you're given, even if you don't like it. If you _have_ to fight, do it when they're not around. I don't want you upsetting them. Always tell them where you're going; don't just wander off. And whatever you do…" Mum takes a deep breath. "I do _not_ want you going in the sea."

We both immediately emit cries of protest.

"Mum!" Matt wails. "That's not fair! I've already told everyone at school that I'm going to learn how to surf!"

"And I wanted to go swimming, at least!" I say, folding my arms. "The water's much nicer in Cornwall than in Brighton!" That's true; she knows it is. In Brighton all we do is paddle and even then the sea's grey and lifeless, controlled by wooden bollards that cut the sands –or lack of sands- in half, slicing the beach into segments. From what I've seen in photos, Cornwall is all golden sands and crystal waters ranging from emerald to azure. I know that she's never liked the sea; I mean, she flatly refuses to even go near the water whenever we go to Brighton and freaks out if we ever go too deep, but I always just thought that that was her being...mumsy. I can't believe she that she's so worried about the water that she won't even let us go in it! The sea around Cornwall looks amazing, and I can't believe that she doesn't want us to experience it!

"It's dangerous." She says in a tight voice. "I should know. There are rip currents where you least expect them, and the waves are far too big for you to handle; they'll knock you right off of your feet and you'll be sucked under before you know it."

"But Mum-"

"No _buts_, Keren." She says in a firm voice. "I don't want either of you going in the sea, and that's final. I don't even want you going to the beach by yourselves; the tide can come in so quickly that you find yourself cut off before you know it. I've seen it happen. Promise me."

I glance at Matt, and he glances back at me, before we both nod. "We promise," I say with a sigh.

-x-

I watch the grey tower blocks of Croydon fly past the window, clutching my bag tightly, a piece of paper in my hand guiding me through e changes we have to make. I'm still nervous. What if we miss a train? Or get off at the wrong stop?

_Stop worrying, Keren._ I tell myself strictly. _You were the one who convinced Mum that she didn't need to come with you. Don't chicken out now._

We have three changes. This train takes us from South Croydon to London Bridge. We get off there, which is easy enough as it's the end of the line; plus we go up to London all of the time. But then we have to get the underground, which could be a struggle with our rucksacks and suitcases. They're only small suitcase, hand luggage really, but we still have to carry them down Jubilee Line, and then change at Baker Street to the Circle Line. Then we have to make a run for it, as we only have ten minutes to get the train to Penzance. Once on there, we can relax for the next five hours or so before we get off at St Erth and get the train to St Pirans. Then, with a bit of luck, our grandparents should we waiting at the station. I made sure that I brought a pretty thick book.  
Croydon's grey tower blocks slowly give way to even taller grey tower blocks as we travel deeper into London before finally arriving at London Bridge. I look up as we walk along the platform, up at the Shard, a glistening tower of glass over the station and sigh softly as we head inside, down towards the tube. Cornwall sounds fun, but I do love London…the less grey bits, anyway. I go up with Mum to the food market at the South Bank, when she's not working, and we browse the stalls, trying bits and bobs from each of them. My favourites are the cheese market and the chocolate market, although the German Food festival they have near Christmas is pretty good too. The lights are really cool around Christmas time as well; they made tunnels out of white and blue fairy lights last year, and it looked really awesome. Camden's really cool too; I can get the Northern Line up from London Bridge, and chop until my heart's content. They have really cool vintage shops up there, as well as loads of exotic stuff. I got a really epic leather bound notebook from there last year, with thick, smooth creamy pages and a smooth piece of amethyst set in the front cover. I love all the pretty parts too, with the Victorian, and Georgian and Edwardian architecture.

I grab hold of Matty's hand, despite his protests, in order to keep track him as we hurry down the escalator and into the tub station. The journey is cramped; it's around nine so we're still caught in a seething mass of people in their way to work. The side of my face is squashed against the window for a majority of the second tube journey, which is about nine stops long and feels like forever, but eventually we're stumbling off of the tube and dashing towards the exit, my hand still tightly clasped around Matty's pulling him along. We locate the platform easily, and, after I produce both of our tickets, are through the ticket barrier and onto the train. We've booked seats, so we don't have to go through every carriage looking for a space, luckily, and soon find ourselves settled down. I send Mum a quick text, to let her know we're safely on the train, before leaning back in my seat and pulling out my book, flicking it open at the first page. It's a series I've been meaning to ready for a while; and what better time to start than a five hour train journey, especially as each book is about nine hundred words long.

"Keeeeeeren?" Matty whines before I've even finished the first sentence.

"What?"

"I want to sit next to the windoooow!" He whimpers, pouting and blinking up at me with wide eyes. This used to make him look cute when he was little, but now he just looks like a rather constipated brown eyed slug, at least in my eyes. But nevertheless, I sigh and close my book, pick up my bag and beginning the undignified process of shuffling past him and out into the aisle. He moves over into my recently vacated seat, pulling out his Nintendo again.

"Matty, why do you want to sit by the window if all you're going to be doing is playing video games?" I ask, sitting back down next to him. "Aren't you even going to look out of it?"

"I will. Later." He mumbles, still playing his game, not even bothering to look up at me again.

"You better not play that game non-stop and Nana and Granddads. It would be very rude."

"So?" He grunts. "They're family. You're allowed to be rude to family."

"Mum'd kill you if she heard you say that."

"Well she's not here, is she? She off working. In the holidays. _Again_." He says, before falling silent as he encounters a particularly tricky part.

"You know she can't help that." I say quietly. "She has a very demanding job."

"Yeah. That's what you say about Dad."

"Well it's true!"

"Whatever." He mumbles.

I sigh, leaning back in my seat as the guard blows the whistle and the train begins to move out of the station. Matt's still too young to understand. If he wants all of his expensive trainers and stuff from Jack Wills and Hollister, then our parents have to work for it. It's all very well him moaning about them working in the school holidays, but I remember a couple of years ago when they took time off of work specially to go on holiday with us, and all Matty did was sit inside and play video games. And when he did bother to talk to them it was only to moan about how it was too hot, or the food wasn't right, or how he wanted a new computer. And when they told him that they couldn't afford a new computer because they'd saved up for the holiday, he yelled at them and locked himself in his room for the rest of the day. Honestly, I don't know what our parents did to deserve him; as parents go they're pretty much the best. I just wish they could spend more time with us, but obviously that's not really an option. And because Mum's had to leave today to do some work up in Edinburgh, and Dad's had to go to a conference in Belgium, they've sent us off to our grandparents for most of the holidays. We only see Nana and Granddad about three times a year, and we've never been to their house, but they've always come up for our birthdays and Christmas and stuff, even when Mum and Dad couldn't be there, along with my uncle, Mum's older brother. He's pretty cool; he was the one who told me all about body boarding. I've got another set of grandparents, and another uncle hanging around somewhere, but I see them even less; I've only met them once or twice because apparently they're even more busy than my parents are.

"Kerry?"

I blink and look up from my book. "What is it, Matty?"

"Are we nearly there yet?"

I check my watch. Four more hours to go. Four more hours of Matt. I grit my teeth, shake my head, and return to my book.

-x-

St Pirans Station is _tiny_. I stare around as we climb off of the train, hardly able to believe my eyes. It's the end of the line, and there's only a single track coming into the station. The train simply goes back again in the opposite direction. I glance at Matt, before beginning to search to occupants of the platform for our grandparents, but I can't see them anywhere. Panic grips my chest, clamping around my lungs like a vice. I take several deep breaths, and put out my phone to call them, but I don't have any signal. _No need to panic. They're probably just running late. Maybe…maybe they're stuck in traffic? _Traffic. Here? I stare up at the road, which runs alone the cliff above us. A lone car winds its way along before disappearing in the direction of the more built up area of town. _Yeah. Traffic._

There's sudden honking noise, making us both jump. Matt almost drops his video game. There's a vehicle driving down a sloping road into the carpark which hadn't noticed until now. It heads towards us and comes to a stop a couple of metres away.

"Keren! Matthew!" A man climbs out of a car and starts moving towards us. I grin and wave as I recognise our grandfather, and pick up my case, nudging Matt to do the same, before beginning to head in his direction.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there to meet you," he says as he reaches us, taking both of our cases. I thank him and fall into step with him as he returns to the car. "I got stuck behind a tractor, and let me tell you those things are slow!" He grins at me, before opening the boot and putting our bags inside. "Hop in the back, you two."

I climb in and strap myself in, putting my rucksack down by my feet. Matt does the same, sulkily putting away his Nintendo when I step on his foot.

"So how are the two of you then?" Granddad asks as he begins to drive out of the car park and through St Pirans. "How did your GCSE's go, Keren?"

"I think they went okay," I say uncertainly. "Urm…English was fine, so was Latin…Maths probably could have gone better though."

He laughs. "Well English and Latin are the two you enjoy, right? And I'm sure you did well in your Maths, better than you think. From what I remember, your mother never liked Maths much either, and she did just fine in the end."

I smile slightly as we drive through the winding cobbled streets of St Pirans. "I hope so. Thanks, Granddad."

"You're most welcome," he replies with an infectious smile, and I feel my own smile widen.

"What about you, Matthew? How's school?"

"Boring." Matthew mumbles, staring at the floor.

"Oh really? Don't you have a favourite lesson?"

"No."

Granddad raises his eyebrows slightly and bravely continues trying to converse with a sulky Matt, but after a few more of his questions received monosyllabic answers, he appears to give up and returns to talking with me instead.

We soon leave the town and the drive takes us into a wilder area. If I look out my window, I can see stone tors dotting the cliffs and hills, surrounded by thick purple heather and sunny yellow gorse. I turn to look out of Matt's window and for a moment feel the breath leave my lungs in one sharp exhalation. The sea stretches out beyond the jagged line of the cliffs, sparkling in the afternoon sun. The sunlight glistening off of the water momentarily dazzles me, but when I can see again I can see that it is a deep, pure blue.

Granddad lets out a soft chuckle. "Like nothing you've ever seen is it? Beautiful, the sea. It's more dangerous around here than what you're used to though, I imagine. The coast around here is old as time and just as wild. But if you respect the sea, with a bit of luck, the sea will respect you back. Just remember it's not your friend. It's not your enemy, but it's not your friend either."

"How could water be an enemy or a friend?" Matt says, a slight sneer to his voice as if he thinks that Granddad is ever so slightly senile. "It's just water."

"Maybe one day, young Matthew, you'll find out." Granddad says, his voice light hearted.

I kick Matty's ankle again, angry with him for being so rude, but when I meet Granddad's eyes in the driver's mirror, I can tell that he knows that I, at least, understand.

-x-

We eventually leave the main road, and we find ourselves driving through a small village; there's only about ten or so houses that I can see, was well as a church, a pub, a small museum and what appears to a chapel converted into a backpackers hostel. We leave this behind too as we venture down a dirt track, the car jolting slightly as we go over rocks and bumpier bits of terrain. We drive past two more cottages before coming to a halt at the end of the track, where Granddad climbs out of the car and opens the gate, before returning and driving through it, along a gravel driveway.

"Here we are!" He says, parking the car, climbing out and shutting the gate, before collecting our bags. He leads the way into the house, pushing the door open. A delicious aroma wafts out; someone's cooking what appears to be the best roast I've ever smelt.

"We're back, Jennie!" Granddad calls, walking into the kitchen, carrying our bags. Matty glances at me, before trailing after him, carrying his rucksack, I'm just about to follow, before I think I hear a faint voice calling my name.

I turn around, frowning, and staring out over the gently waving gorse bushes, a light breeze blowing my dark hair around my face. But when I listen properly, I can hear nothing except the wind rustling the leaves of the trees and the faint hiss of the sea.

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**Please, please review and tell me what you think! Do you want me to continue it?**

**x**


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